Little Brother
by NemesisNecrosis
Summary: Tsuna's mother is assassinated when he's one and a half, so he gets taken to Italy by his father. Iemitsu is a very busy man, though, so little Tsuna is raised mostly by his cousins – Vongola Nono's sons – and the household staff. He grows very close to all four of them, but then when he's six the cradle happens, and his father chooses to send him back to Japan...
1. Seven and Eight

**Tsuna's mother is assassinated when he's one and a half, so he gets taken to Italy by his father. Iemitsu is a very busy man, though, so little Tsuna is raised mostly by his cousins – Vongola Nono's sons – and the household staff. He grows very close to all four of them, but then when he's six the cradle happens, and his father chooses to send him back to Japan to live with his mother's sister – who's a successful artist – rather than keep him in Italy where the Family's enemies have suddenly become more bold with Xanxus' disappearance. **

**Seven**

There was a little boy huddling in a concealed corner of a warehouse, shivering from cold and fear. He could hear his pursuers through the spaces between the boxes he hid behind, footsteps easily audible to his sensitive ears. Another boy might make some sound, maybe breathe too harshly and draw attention to himself, but this boy had been taught how to behave when hiding.

_Breathe lightly_, said a quiet voice in his memories, _don't move, keep your eyes mostly closed so light can't bounce off them._ Tsuna could almost hear his cousin's voice, a smooth tenor that hardly ever rose higher than a whisper. Federico was like a shadow, and he'd taught Tsuna the beginnings of his art._ Keep your ears open, little lion, don't lose track of where the enemy is, be prepared to run when hiding is a lost cause, only fight when you cannot run away._

Tsuna had asked how he would ever win a fight if he always hid or ran first, and Enrico had laughed from where he was watching his younger brother teach._ Don't worry about winning,_ he'd said with a smirk, his voice rough from smoking and yelling at trainees all day, _you're young yet, little lion, if fighting is needed we'll be there to do it for you._ Then he'd gone on to teach Tsuna a couple basic moves for getting out of a hold, in case he was ever caught alone.

Tsuna wished Enrico was here to fight for him.

He heard whispers from a few feet away, a pair of his tormentors pausing to argue about whether he was still here. When they agreed he must have gotten away, he almost breathed a sigh of relief, but he'd been taught better than that, so he waited until the footsteps revealed that all seven older boys had left the warehouse before he moved. Still pulling on Federico's lessons, Tsuna slipped through the shadows and out of the building, hurrying home in the gathering dark.

His auntie Emi greeted him with a smile and bade him wash up for dinner. She gave no comment about the lateness of the hour, but then that was usual. Tsuna wondered what she thought he was doing when he didn't come home until so late at night.

* * *

He was eight and his aunt was disappointed in him.

It wasn't his fault, really, he just didn't understand what the teachers wanted. Japanese had always been hard for him, since he'd spent his first six years mostly in Italy, speaking _Italian_. He could speak it just fine, but memorizing all these symbols was so difficult! He was fine with romanji, why did he have to learn katakana and hiragana and_ kanji?_

His aunt didn't get it, though; he was Japanese, so he should be able to learn it just fine, right?

He missed Massimo.

The second brother had always been able to teach him things best. Massimo said he was a Tactile Learner, so he learned differently. He always had lessons in different places, like the garden or the greenhouses, and he'd walk him through a book and then let him take a break. School was so long and boring! They had to sit at desks and listen to the teacher go on and on, and the stuff they said just didn't stick! And the books were all in Japanese, so he didn't understand it very well, and it only got worse as he got older and the books got more complicated. At this rate he would be failing all the time soon, and his aunt would only get more disappointed.

* * *

**A/N: Can't find a good cover page for this. I'd want it to have the Ninth's sons and Tsuna, and there just doesn't seem to be much of that.**


	2. Ten and Eleven

**Ten**

He'd been right, it only got worse from there.

He couldn't understand practically anything the teachers wrote, and that meant that even though he was pretty good at math – Massimo had once said he was a natural – he couldn't learn anything new at school. None of the other kids wanted to help him because they thought he was just stupid, and the teachers weren't helping 'cause they thought that, too. They called him Idiot-Tsuna.

He wasn't, though, he knew it, because the public library had math books in English, which he'd learned when he was little, and he understood it fine in that language.

The boys who'd chased him into that warehouse when he was seven hadn't done anything like that again, but that was because he made sure to always get home before the streets emptied now. That didn't stop them from trying to hurt him at school, though. Sometimes they cornered him in the hallways at lunch, or just after school ended, and he honestly didn't understand how his aunt could pretend she didn't see the bruises, but she'd never mentioned anything, when she was home at all.

He was drowning, but he supposed it could be worse. It _would_ be worse, if it weren't for his cousins' lessons. He never thought he'd be thankful for Xanxus' training, but without it there probably would have been broken bones by now. Without the youngest Vongola's words he would've been even worse off.

_Why the hell are you crying, brat,_ he'd said one day, after he'd caught Tsuna doing just that because his father had brushed him off when he'd asked for some help with his flames ('How cute! My little Tunafish wants to learn how to fight like his Papa! But you don't need to, Tsu-kun, Papa will always be there to protect you!'), _So the CEDEF trash doesn't give a damn, what does it matter to you? If he's not interested in looking after you, then you shouldn't be interested in him. It's not like you're alone, anyway, you've got my idiot brothers pandering to your every whim._ Then he'd cuffed him over the head, surprisingly gently for Xanxus, and dragged him into one of the training rooms to show him how to gather his flames in his hands, the first of many lessons.

He still cared about his father, but he didn't really care what the man thought of him anymore. He wasn't the one who'd protected him from those mean guys who kidnapped him (it'd been Federico), or the one who taught him how to read and do math and paint (that was Massimo), or the one who'd taught him how to swim and play football (that'd been Enrico). Xanxus was the one who taught him how to fight, and Grandpa was the one who told stories to him sometimes before he went to bed. Those were things a father was supposed to do, and Iemitsu hadn't done any of them.

No one did them, now. His aunt was kind and gentle and a really good artist, who always had a hug for him and made a bento for his lunch when she could, but she never noticed when he got hurt, or when he was sad. She didn't really seem to know what to do with a child.

He missed his family.

* * *

He was eleven, and he'd pretty much given up on school at this point. He still went, and he'd figured out how to read better over the past year, thanks to a helpful librarian who'd realized what was going on, but it hadn't changed anything. Everyone thought he was just an idiot now, so when he did better the teachers thought he'd cheated, and even when they didn't think that the other students did. There was a lot of homework stealing and ripping – Tsuna tried to fight back, but he wasn't like that crazy Hibari-san who could stand up to a whole group of upperclassmen and come out unscathed and victorious.

So he still learned what was taught, and he listened in class, but no one ever called on him because he was Idiot-Tsuna, and sometimes Cheater-Tsuna now, too. At least he was okay at sports, so he didn't get picked on about that. He was even faster than most of the other kids, since he trained sometimes when his aunt wasn't home. Things were better now, maybe even looking up, but they weren't exactly good.

* * *

"Hey, ah, Tsuna-san!" Someone called from behind him after gym class one day.

Tsuna turned, surprised to see Yamamoto Takeshi was the one calling to him. The other boy was pretty popular, since even though he wasn't all that great at classwork, he was really good at sports, especially baseball.

The brunet blinked at him, then gave a slight smile. Yamamoto wasn't a mean-spirited person, so he'd never made fun of him like the others in his class. "Yes, Yamamoto-san? Can I help you?" He asked.

Yamamoto grinned at him, "You're pretty good at football, you know," he said, "That last pass you made to Daisuke-san was really good, if you hadn't passed to him there we might not have won!" He told Tsuna cheerfully.

Tsuna stared at him in surprise; he hadn't thought anyone had really noticed, "Ah, thank you, Yamamoto-san, but it wasn't that big a deal. You were the one who scored most of the goals, anyway."

"Haha, so modest! The team's just as important as the star player, you know, and you're better than most of the others. Maybe you should join a football team."

Tsuna shook his head, "I doubt anyone would want me to join," he said.

Yamamoto frowned slightly, "Why not?"

The brunet gave him a bemused look, "Well, no one really likes me, you know."

Yamamoto nodded, "I guess not, but I don't really see why. You seem like a pretty cool guy to me, Tsuna-san."

Tsuna blushed and gave the other a boy a smile. He didn't know it then, but this was the start of the changes.

* * *

**A/N: If I were going to have a cover photo, it'd have to be of the Ninth's sons and Tsuna. As I can't find much of that... **


	3. Interlude 1 - The Brothers

_"Tsuna!"_

_The little boy turned towards the person who'd called his name, a grin breaking out on his face, "Enrico-nii!" He squealed back at the man as he waved his hands, which were full of grass that he'd torn from the ground out of boredom. Facing in that direction as he was, he completely missed the man darting out of the woods behind him, not that the child would have been able to do anything if he had seen._

_Enrico dashed across the lawn, roaring in frustration as the man snatched up the suddenly screaming boy and threw him over his shoulder, turning away from the Vongola Heir and running back into the trees. Enrico reached the edge of the wood seconds later, but by that time the kidnapper was already over the wall, judging by the sounds Tsuna was making, which suddenly cut off a moment later. Enrico snarled and pulled out his radio, giving orders to search the area and set up an investigation into who was behind this._

* * *

_Federico was the one who found him._

_It had only been hours since the attack, but the whole of Vongola HQ was in an uproar. CEDEF had been called, but Iemitsu was incommunicado, busy with a sensitive mission with no means of contact at all. In all honesty, Federico didn't think it mattered that much, considering that the man had basically abandoned his son to the Vongola main house upon his arrival in Italy, and had hardly seen the kid since._

_At any rate, Federico stood in an alleyway across the street from the old warehouse he'd tracked the kidnapper to._

_He pulled out his phone and dialed his oldest brother, "Enrico," he said quietly once he'd picked up, "I've tracked him to a warehouse in the south end of the city."_

_Enrico sighed in relief, and waited for Federico to give him a more precise location before giving him the go ahead to scout inside, informing his brother that he'd be sending back-up. Federico gave his acknowledgement, then flipped the phone shut and slipped across the street and eased his way into the warehouse, making sure to be absolutely silent. If he was heard, they might hurt Tsuna, after all._

_Hearing voices coming from the back of the large space inside, the third Vongola stalked silently between the crates, avoiding the three lookouts with ease before he reached a spot close enough to hear clearly._

_"You sure this is the Young Lion's son?" One voice asked, "He doesn't look much like the bastard."_

_"Yeah," said another, "The kid's all fluffy and brown, and tiny."_

_A third man snorted, "He's like four or something, of course he's tiny. Yeah, this is him, he matches the picture."_

_Federico scowled at that; there shouldn't be any pictures of Tsuna floating around. They'd have to look into how that got out._

_Suddenly a loud crash came from outside the warehouse, causing the whole group to start swearing and shouting. The third voice ordered several of his fellows to head to the area the crash had come from to stall while he and some others escaped with Tsuna._

_Having had enough by this point, Federico slipped out of the shadows, pulling out a knife and darting behind Tsuna before anyone could react. He slashed the ropes keeping the (still conscious) boy bound and then tugged him back into the shadow between a pair of crates before throwing his knife into the third man's throat. He was careful to keep Tsuna behind him, not wanting the kid to see this sort of thing at such a young age._

_He turned and lifted the boy onto his back, telling him to hold on tight as he dashed through the room towards the entrance he'd used, which was near but to the right of the fighting. He wasn't expecting it to be guarded now, though, which was his downfall._

_Two shots rang right in front of him as he turned the corner, and he felt like he'd been punched through the shoulder and again through the leg. He gave a harsh gasp as he stumbled and fell, dislodging a screaming Tsuna from his back as he went. _Stupid_, he cursed himself, that was such an amateur mistake. He was going to pay for this in training later, if he got out of this alive._

_He was sidetracked as the world lit on fire._

_He turned his face to watch in some awe as his little cousin lit up like a bonfire, orange flames bursting into being on his forehead and hands. _Sky Flames_, some part of him thought, before it was blown away as the tiny boy shot across the room and took down the pair of guards on the doors with a pair of well placed punches to the crotch, and then another pair of kicks to the head._

_That done, the boy turned back to look at him. The last thought Federico had before he passed out from blood loss was _Primo.

* * *

_Xanxus was in a pretty bad mood right now._

_This wasn't unusual, exactly, he was usually pretty irritated, but his typical mood hardly held a candle to how pissed he was right now. The reason for this was simple: that was his brother on the floor there, with blood puddling under him, and he couldn't get a good enough look at him to tell where the blood was coming from. He finished off the last man standing between him and Federico and stalked towards his prone form._

_Then there was the brat, who was the reason for this whole thing. He was passed out at Federico's side, light burns on his hands and forehead suggesting that he'd activated his flames. At least he was good for something, the teen thought, eyeing the pair of dead men walking who'd shot Federico as he stooped down to check both of them were breathing. That confirmed, he gestured towards one of the idiots with him to begin field dressing the wounds as he pulled out his phone and called Enrico._

_"Xanxus?" The 35 year old's voice came across the line once he'd picked up._

_"We'll need a medic," the teen snapped into the phone, "Neither of them are critical, but Federico took a shot to the shoulder and another through the leg, and the brat looks like he went active."_

_"Xanxus!" Enrico snapped, "What the hell are you doing there? You weren't supposed to be with the back-up I sent."_

_"It's a good thing I was," the youngest growled at him, "These trash wouldn't have made it through the first group without me."_

_Enrico gave a sigh, "We'll talk about this later, in the meantime there should be a medic there in five, if you would give me a quick report on the situation._

* * *

_Enrico was the one who was sitting by Tsuna's bedside when he awoke. He had been sleeping, but was instantly snapped out of it by the sound of various things falling, and shot up from his sleep in alarm to find the boy was trying to creep out of the infirmary bed but had tipped over the tray next to it._

_He raised an eyebrow at the boy, "And where do you think you're going?" He asked casually._

_Tsuna gave him a long, quivering look, then burst into tears._

_Enrico panicked for about three seconds before calming down and pulling the kid in for a hug, "Hey, hey, shh, it's alright, little lion, it's alright, you're okay."_

_The kid just cried harder; somewhat bewildered, the oldest Vongola brother kept holding him and rocking him and making vaguely soothing sounds._ The great Enrico Vongola,_ some part of his mind went sardonically, _give him any obstacle and he'll plan some way around it, but give him a crying child and he's hopeless.

_Eventually Tsuna calmed down, still hiccoughing as he rubbed his wet eyes against the shoulder of Enrico's jacket. The man pulled away slightly and gave him a hopefully soothing look, "What's wrong, Tsuna?" He asked gently._

_The boy sniffed, "I-I-It's my fault, I wasn't looking and I went too close to the trees and the bad men got me and then Federico-nii got _shot_! He got shot saving _me_!"_

_He looked about ready to start crying again, to Enrico's great alarm, so he hurried to comfort him, "No, little lion, it wasn't your fault-"_

_"How can you say that! It was!" The boy interrupted, eyes watering._

_Enrico clapped a palm over his mouth, "Hush," he said, "It wasn't your fault, it was the bad men who decided kidnapping you was a good idea, and the bad men who shot him. It was their fault, not yours, and you stopped them from hurting him more when you activated your flames and knocked them out."_

_Tsuna stopped crying at that, "I activated my flames?" He mumbled into Enrico's hand, wondering. He blinked as Enrico cautiously pulled his palm away, "So that's why I felt so much stronger." He looked at his hands, finally noticing the bandages wrapped around them and on his forehead, and the sticky-slick feeling of some kind of burn soothing paste underneath._

_Enrico breathed a sigh of relief, "Yeah, that would be why. You knocked out those guys and saved Federico from getting hurt again, so you saved him just like he saved you. Besides, he's going to be fine." He nodded towards the other bed in the room, where his younger brother lay sleeping easily, shoulder and leg covered in clean bandages and tucked in under the sheets. He hadn't woken up yet, but the doctor said he should sometime today._

_In fact, he seemed to be waking now. Enrico looked back to Tsuna and held a finger to his mouth, lifting the boy into his arms and walking over to sit in the chair facing his brother's bed. The 27 year old made a scrunched-up face, then cracked open an eyelid, then another, slowly focusing on his brother and cousin._

_After a second of staring, he broke into a wide smile, "Ah, you're alright, that's good," he muttered._

_Tsuna was silent, and Enrico worried for a moment that he might start crying again, but it seemed he'd decided that his new discovery was more important than being guilty._

_"I activated my flames, Federico-nii!" He squealed delightedly._

_Federico got a strange look on his face as he gazed at Tsuna thoughtfully. Then he shook his head and smiled at the boy, "I saw," he said, "Good job taking down those two idiots."_

_While Tsuna basked in that complement, Enrico informed his brother of the happenings over the past three days, and the state of his injuries. About half-way through the explanation of Xanxus' penalty for joining the back-up team against orders (he was on leave from taking missions for the next month, though he was allowed to use the training rooms), Tsuna left to go to the bathroom. Federico's eyes trailed after him thoughtfully as he went, and his older brother trailed off as he noticed his preoccupation._

_"Fede?" He prompted._

_Federico blinked and turned back to him shaking his head, "The way he used his flames – he looked like Primo, Enrico."_

_Enrico raised a brow at him, "Well, based on the burns I'd say he was in Dying Will Mode, and his hairstyle is a bit like Primo's..."_

_Federico shook his head again, "No, it was... I don't know, but there was something more to it, something in his eyes."_

_He trailed off, and then Tsuna re-entered the room complaining that he couldn't find the bathroom and asking Enrico to please help him find it._

_As Enrico took his cousin's hand to lead him out, he glanced back at his brother to find him gazing after the boy, a considering look in his eyes._

* * *

_"Like this, Nii-san?" A little boy's voice rang from inside one of the smaller training rooms in the Vongola Main house. Massimo paused as he passed by on his way to his favourite room, recognizing the voice as Tsuna's. He wondered which of his brothers was teaching him this time, and what he was learning._

_Curiosity overcoming his need to take out some stress on innocent training dummies, Nono's second son slipped into the room and was greatly surprised to find his youngest brother was the one with the boy. He was perhaps slightly less surprised to see that Xanxus was teaching the little lion how to focus his flames, using a low class ring that probably belonged to him._

_Massimo watched the pair from next to the door, a small, fond smile on his face. It was a little surprising to see Xanxus being so – gentle, with their little cousin. Even if he had some reservations about teaching a five-year-old to use his flames, he couldn't deny that the youngest Vongola was doing a decent job of it. Tsuna was staring, rather fascinated, at the flickering orange light dancing over the back of his hand, eyes wide with wonder. The fifteen-year-old, meanwhile, had a rather strange look on his face as he knelt down beside his student. Massimo thought it might have been because of the 'Nii-san' title the little boy had bestowed upon him. He covered a chuckle with a small cough, which made the two look over at him._

_"Hello, Xanxus, Tsuna," he said, eyes dancing at the scowl his brother gave him for the poorly-disguised laugh. The little boy, however, was beaming at him, waving his flaming hand in Massimo's direction._

_"Look, Massimo-nii, Xanxus-nii showed me how to make my flames go to my hands! It's really pretty, and maybe now I'll fight better if anymore bad guys come and try to take me away again, so Federico-nii won't get hurt next time." Tsuna frowned slightly as he remembered the kidnapping attempt that had led to him activating his sky flames. The wounds Federico had taken hadn't been terribly critical, but they bled a lot, and it had been quite traumatizing for the youngest heir._

_Xanxus cuffed the boy gently, "Don't get ahead of yourself, brat." He said, "You're not good enough to be talking about fighting yet." Tsuna looked disheartened,"But you're doing alright for a brat." The teen added grudgingly._

_Massimo looked on in great amusement as the boy gave his brother a frankly dazzling smile, making Xanxus look away uncomfortably. The 32 year old rather suspected the kid was the only one who could fluster his half-brother like that._


	4. Eleven - Hibari

Yamamoto hadn't stopped talking to him after that. He wasn't bothering him or anything, but sometimes he came and ate lunch with Tsuna, and he started picking him for his team all the time. Tsuna wouldn't have minded, except that having apparently gained the friendship of such a popular guy made the bullies worse.

"Baka-Tsuna, what do you think you're doing hanging around a guy like Yamamoto?" One boy asked threateningly, attempting to loom over the smaller child. He and four of his fellows were surrounding the smaller boy in a semi-circle against a wall. They'd caught him in the morning a few blocks from the elementary, and were now keeping him from getting to class on time.

Tsuna raised his hands in front of him defensively, eyeing the four others in the group harassing him warily, "I'm not hanging around with him," he protested, "he's just being a good classmate." Not that he'd mind hanging around Yamamoto, he thought. The baseball ace was friendly and always seemed cheerful, and he didn't treat Tsuna like the dirt beneath his feat, unlike most.

It was looking like it might turn into a fight when someone spoke up behind the semi-circle of bullies.

"Herbivores." The six boys all stilled, "You are crowding and skipping class."

Tsuna watched absently as the five facing him paled, feeling a slightly vindictive pleasure as they turned to face the Demon of Namimori Middle. He'd be feeling even better if he wasn't also skipping class and 'crowding', even if it wasn't of his own volition. Hibari-san wasn't known to care about that sort of thing, after all.

One of the boys chose that moment to speak up, "Ah, Hibari-san, we were just making sure Sawada here made it to school, he was lagging behind, you see..." He trailed off uncertainly as the boy stared at him.

"You're lying." The thirteen-year-old said after a moment. Then he bared his teeth at them, "I will bite you all to death."

He waded into the group of terrified bullies, his tonfas making wince-worthy sounds against the others' bodies as he went. Tsuna tried to make himself as still as possible, hoping that if he didn't draw attention the Demon Prefect might just let him go to class after he was finished with the others.

No such luck; after leaving the five boys in a twitching pile on the ground, Hibari turned to Tsuna next. The brunet winced as he braced himself for impact, but after a few moments of nothing happening he looked up at the older boy curiously. Then he folded over as he took a tonfa to the stomach, falling on his hands and knees as the Prefect pulled away.

As he tried to regulate his breathing and hopefully avoid throwing up, he heard footsteps walking away from him. He glanced up as Hibari spoke, "Go to class, Herbivore, and don't cut again. I won't be so lenient next time."

As he was left alone in the street Tsuna eyed the other victims and vowed to try extra hard to never be late again.

**A/N: -Does a happy dance-**

**So many favourites and follows! Ohmychalice, thanks guys!**

**-Flails- **

**Two of my favourite authors have read this. O/./O They even reviewed! Is this what fangirling is like? Eheh... -rubs back of neck-**

**As a side note, this was somewhat inspired by I Knew Them, a one-shot by SkyGem. I loved the idea so much that I had to take it further. **

**Also, writing Hibari is hard for me. I feel like I'm making him too stilted. Also, writing his catch phrase makes me feel silly.**


	5. Eleven - Ryohei

Thanks to his new-found zeal for timeliness, the next morning saw Tsuna headed out the door a good two hours before he needed to be, dressed in exercise clothes. It was six in the morning, and the street was utterly deserted, so peaceful that the boy couldn't help but stop to bask in the birdsong and wish that his life could always be this way.

Alas, it was not to be, he realized, as the morning calm was shattered by the extreme sound of Sasagawa Ryohei's voice.

"Good morning!" Tsuna jumped as the older boy came to a stop directly in front of him in the middle of the road, "I have never seen you out this early before, Sawada!"

Tsuna usually went running two or three times a week, around seven in the morning, so he sometimes caught sight of Sasagawa just as he was heading home, though the other had never seen him. Tsuna was suddenly reminded of why he had never chosen to head out earlier – the older boy was a fitness fanatic, and now that he knew Tsuna ran, too, he suspected he'd never be left alone.

He was right.

Notes:

This and the next chapter are things I wrote way back, but never finished. As I suspect I'm not going to get around to finishing this story (though I might re-write it), I figured I'd post them, since I always wish other authors would. :)


	6. Reborn, Rings and Interlude 2

Thirteen - Reborn

Tsuna continued to sit, staring at the photos in shock, as Reborn eyed him curiously. After a moment, he slid off the bed to sit in front of them, a shaky hand reaching out to brush the picture of Enrico's dead body. A gun fight, Reborn had said, and all Tsuna could think as he stared at the blood pooling out of the hole in his cousin's skull was, at least it was quick. Because Massimo was drowned, and Federico's cause of death was unknown.

"What happened?" He murmured, turning his face to the right, away from the photos.

He wondered if he was expected to have forgotten about his Italian cousins, since he was so young the last he'd seen them. Maybe he would have forgotten, if there had been anything to replace them in his memories. But there hadn't been, no one had wanted to be his friend when he first got back to Japan, so he'd clung to those memories like a life-line. Tall, smirking Enrico, with a quip for any situation and a protective glint in his eye. Cheerful Massimo who was always there to catch him, not at all suited to leading but the only one who'd married and had children; Tsuna wondered what had happened to them if he had to inherit. Quiet Federico who was usually out of the estate, but always had a quiet word of wisdom for his little cousin should he need it.

And then there was Xanxus, who Reborn hadn't even mentioned. Tsuna wondered what that meant; had the fiery young man finally had enough and left? He hadn't really understood why then, but the youngest Vongola had always seemed to be treated differently, almost scornfully. He knew now, of course, what those assholes meant when they called him a bastard, but he'd only been five the last time he'd been in Italy.

Reborn seemed to think he shouldn't know who these people were. He hoped he thought that, at least, because showing a young boy pictures of the dead bodies of strangers was one thing, but showing him the dead bodies of those he considers brothers was another.

Fourteen - Rings

His father was on the couch when he came in. Tsuna's aunt was out – she was delivering a painting to an art dealer she worked with in Kyoto, and wouldn't be back for a week or two – which was a good thing, because the idiot was lying in the middle of the living room completely shit-faced and clad only in boxers and an undershirt.

As soon as he saw this scene, Tsuna turned right back around and headed out the door. He had no desire to speak to Iemitsu, the man who had shipped him off away from his family and then never told him a thing when they dropped dead one-by-one. The man who wanted him to fight Xanxus for the title of Vongola Tenth, when Tsuna knew perfectly well that being Decimo was his cousin's right.

"Tsuna!" The man spoke from behind him.

His son paused in the doorway, turning slightly to eye him, "Yes, Otou-san?" He asked neutrally.

Iemitsu frowned slightly, then picked up a small box from where it was beside him, "Take these – the half-rings. You'll need to give them to the ones who will be your Guardians – Reborn tells me you have candidates for most of them." Apparently he wasn't as drunk as he seemed.

Tsuna turned and walked back to the couch, taking the box of rings from his father with a nod, "I have all of them but a Mist," he said. Then he eyed the half-naked man with a scowl, "But what makes you think I would agree to do this ring battle?"

Iemitsu blinked in surprise, "I thought you'd agreed to become Decimo?" He asked, confused.

Tsuna's scowl deepened, "No one told me Xanxus was still alive. I thought he was -was dead, like - like the others." His voice shook a bit as he spoke. He shook his head, "If Xanxus wants to be Decimo, I don't have any right to take it from him, I probably wouldn't do as good a job, anyway!"

The frown on his father's face grew, as he shook his head, "Tsuna, Xanxus wouldn't be good for the Vongola, he'd bring it to ruin."

Tsuna blinked at him in confusion, "What do you mean? He's one of grandpa's sons, right? He -I grew up with him, I know he loves the Family. I mean, he'd be different than Nono is, but I'm sure he'd be a good boss..."

Iemitsu was shaking his head, "He's changed, since you knew him, Tsuna. He's crueler, and far more angry. His hatred will burn the Family to the ground if you allow him to take over."

Tsuna gazed at him in confusion, What could have happened, he wondered, what would make him like that? Was it because the others all died? If that was the case, Tsuna couldn't really blame him. He kind of wanted to go out there and destroy whoever had killed his cousins himself. But if Xanxus just wanted to use the Vongola to get revenge on whoever was responsible for Enrico, Massimo and Federico's deaths... Well, maybe Tsuna could understand why his father didn't want a boss who'd start a war like that.

But still; he shook his head and handed the box back to his father, "I -give me some time to think," he said. Maybe he would meet with Xanxus when he arrived in Japan, to see for himself if his father was right. If he was... Tsuna didn't know how he'd be able to fight against a man he thought of as a brother, but if Xanxus was as bad as Iemitsu was suggesting, then he'd find the resolve, and hopefully find a way to save his brother from himself. In the meantime, his cousin deserved the benefit of the doubt more than his no-good father did.

Iemitsu huffed and opened the box, pulling out the Sky Ring Half, "Well, even if you're not going to give them out to your Guardians yet, at least hold on to this. It should be safer with you."

Tsuna hesitated, then sighed and took the ring. Then he turned and headed upstairs to his room, where he threaded it onto a chain and hung it around his neck. He stared at it in the mirror, remembering how the completed ring had looked on his grandfather's hand, those times he took note of it. He remembered how he'd seen Nono's Storm, Coyote kiss the ring once when he was hiding in the hall outside the Vongola Boss' office. He remembered the look the old man had worn as he did so; full of affection, yes, but also so weary with the weight of responsibility. He wondered if he'd look like that someday if he became Decimo.

Interlude 2 – The Varia

It wasn't that he didn't think he could hold the Varia, Squalo thought to himself as he followed his boss through the doors of the Vongola mansion, so much as it was that he thought Xanxus could hold it better. Though the 16 year old was temperamental, callous and often cruel, as the Ninth's son he was a leader, and besides that his darker nature wasn't all there was to him. Xanxus was also loyal to his family and Family, and repaid the loyalty of his subordinates with loyalty in kind. He was capable of kindness, though many might not recognize it as such, as his kindness wasn't very obvious, and he had no desire to make it so.

Case in point, the new SiC of the Varia thought as he watched his Sky ruffle the hair of his cousin and pseudo-younger brother, Sawada Tsunayoshi, as they passed him in the otherwise empty halls on the way to the Ninth's office. The fluffy brat beamed up at his 'Nii-san' as he walked on, and gave Squalo a cheerful wave before disappearing around the corner, leaving the swordsman to blink sparkles out of his eyes as Xanxus pushed open his father's office door and preceded him in.

"Ah, Xanxus," The old man looked up from his paperwork (another reason Squalo had handed off the Varia), "What can I do for you today?"

Xanxus scowled at him, "Like you don't know, old man," he said, "The shark killed Tyr." He half-explained.

Timoteo nodded, "So you are the new head of the Varia," he concluded. He took on a concerned look, "Don't you think you are a little young for this, my boy?" He asked.

Squalo snorted softly; Nono was notoriously finicky about his letting his sons take on responsibilities. All one needed to look at for proof was the fact that Enrico was still just the Heir, not even the official successor. The Sword Emperor (he still felt a thrill at owning that title) was sure that would come back to bite the man in the ass one day.

It certainly seemed to be biting him now, as Xanxus' glare grew even hotter than it had been, though the teen didn't bother to answer the ridiculous question. The Vongola boss sighed, then nodded in acquiescence, "Very well. Xanxus Vongola, I accept you as the boss of the Independent Assassination Squad. Further orders will be sent to your office at the Varia's Headquarters." He gave the young man a small smile, "You should go tell your brothers the news," he said, before nodding at his youngest son and turning back to his papers.

Xanxus huffed, then turned sharply and gestured Squalo to follow him out of the room.

They headed for the family wing upon leaving the office and down the stairs to the second floor. Once they reached it they entered the door leading to Xanxus' personal suite of rooms, and the Sky threw himself onto a chair inside the sitting room there. Squalo stayed standing, not willing to sit down without an indication of his new boss' mood.

Notes: Xanxus' brothers didn't know he wasn't really Nono's son, or rather only Enrico knew, and even then he didn't know until after the Cradle Incident. Xanxus doesn't know this, though, and thinking that his brothers have been lying to him too has only pushed him further off the deep end. He never really had the greatest relationship with Timoteo anyway, since the old man never quite got him.

Just a reminder – Xanxus is still effectively 16, even his body should still look the same as it did before the Cradle, plus the ZP scars. In other words, he'll look the same as he did the last time Tsuna saw him, which will probably confuse the kid even more, since no one's told him what happened between him and the Ninth.

Massimo's death – Two years after the Cradle, Massimo's family villa is attacked, the whole family is knocked out with an experimental drug, then another drug is used to dampen Massimo and his son and daughter's flames (Alessio, 14, is a rain, Claudia, 11, a sky). Massimo and his family are tied up, weighted with stones, and then thrown out into the lake on the property to drown. Massimo's household has excellent security, which was not breached, which suggests it might have been an inside job.

Federico's death – Five years after the cradle (though it wasn't confirmed until 7yac), Federico is preforming a fairly simple sabotage mission when he gets ambushed by the Famiglia he's sabotaging. He's kept for ransom, until someone in that Famiglia kills him against orders.

Enrico's death – Six and a half years after the cradle, Enrico is in the middle of a messy fight, backed up by three others, when he is shot from behind by one of his own people. His Sun and Lightning, who were the other two with him at the time, take down the traitor who killed him, but it is later discovered that there were traces of Mist flames all over him.


End file.
